As we know, government agencies and banks control fiat money. So, who controls Bitcoin? As a decentralized network, these assets do not have a specific institution that controls them directly. The short answer to that question is that no one controls it, but you could say that everyone involved in the network manages it. Seeing as the system is decentralized, no main authority governs this network.
Who Really Controls Bitcoin?
By definition a decentralized network means ‘moving control of an organization or government from one place to several smaller places.’ And this applies to the Bitcoin network.. However, instead of dividing it into smaller sites, control of the Bitcoin system is delegated to the thousands of nodes and the people who run the network’s software on their computers. No ultimate authority makes decisions in this network, but everyone has the right to do so. Nobody owns Bitcoin technology, so no one really controls Bitcoin.
Bitcoin Governance
Bitcoin users around the world are the ones who control Bitcoin. Anyone is free to develop Bitcoin software. Also anyone can choose which version of the software they want to run. However, users must be connected and run compatible software versions for this network to work. In the end, a strong network requires everyone to operate under equal regulation. It is how Bitcoin consensus is achieved, namely by a majority vote.
So we can conclude that the person who controls Bitcoin is whoever gives the most votes in making decisions. Since all nodes in the network are considered equal, you and other users are free to join multiple systems in this network. The strongest network wins; which is why users, miners and developers have an incentive to respect each other and protect their collective agreement. Everyone in the network wants to make Bitcoin active, secure, and growing.
Influence in the Bitcoin Network
Who controls the technicalities of the Bitcoin network? Some might say that the developers are in charge because they discuss how the network system should develop and improve. Some would answer miners have the most influence by deciding which software version they want to run. But then again, only the largest number of votes determines the future of Bitcoin because no node, user or party has any special rights in this network.
